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Tutorial of GIM Software

Part I: Kinematic Analysis


COMPMECH Research Group
www.ehu.es/compmech

Faculty of Engineering in Bilbao


Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU)

Contents

Contents
1 What is GIM?
1.1 Application of GIM software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.2 Access to GIM software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2 Main Modules in Kinematic Analysis
2.1 Geometry module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.1.1 Basic options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.1.2 Defining the geometry of the mechanism
2.2 Motion module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2.1 Defining the input conditions . . . . . . .
2.2.2 Getting into the kinematics . . . . . . . .
2.2.3 Graphical plots . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3 Examples of Planar Mechanisms

GIM Software

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COMPMECH Research Group

1 What is GIM?

1 What is GIM?
GIM is a registered software created by the COMPMECH Research Group, belonging
to the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of the Basque Country
(UPV/EHU). The software is intended for educational purposes, in particular destined to
the field of kinematic analysis, motion simulation and synthesis of planar mechanisms,
and also static analysis of mechanical structures.
This tutorial refers to GIM Software, Part I, which focuses on the kinematic analysis
and motion simulation of mechanisms. Planar mechanisms with n-ary elements joined
by revolute and prismatic pairs can be introduced. The position problem is solved iteratively using a numerical method, several of its conditions can be controlled and visualized. Inputs can be defined with a polynomial up to the quintic, so position, velocity
and acceleration can be specified at motion extremes.
The program allows plotting the paths of points of interest, as well as the curvature
center and curvature center locus of the trajectory, and also the area swept by specific
elements of the mechanism can be depicted. Velocities and accelerations can be obtained and the corresponding vectors visualized as the motion is performed, also graphs
and tables associated with this data can be plotted. Every kinematic construction can be
represented: Instantaneous Center of Rotation (ICR), fixed and moving polodes, acceleration pole, main circles (inflection circle, return circle and Bresse circle), and so on
(see illustrative example in Fig. 1).

Figure 1: Illustrative example: PRRP mechanism

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1 What is GIM?

1.1 Application of GIM software


This software has been developed by COMPMECH Research Group with the aim of
approaching the difficulties students usually encounter when facing up to kinematic
analysis of mechanisms. A deep understanding of the kinematic analysis is necessary to
go a step further into design and synthesis of mechanisms. In order to support and complement the theoretical lectures, GIM software is used during the practical exercises,
serving as an educational complementary tool reinforcing the knowledge acquired by
the students.

1.2 Access to GIM software


GIM software can be freely downloaded from the COMPMECH web site in the following link: http://www.ehu.es/compmech/software/

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2 Main Modules in Kinematic Analysis

2 Main Modules in Kinematic Analysis


Regarding the kinematic analysis of planar mechanisms, GIM software has two main
modules: Geometry and Motion.
Geometry module is the one in charge of defining a specific design of the mechanism object of study.
Motion module performs the kinematic analysis and motion simulation of the
mechanism.

2.1 Geometry module


In Fig. 2, the starting main window associated with Geometry module is shown. In the
following sections, the different options included in this module are explained in detail.

Figure 2: Main window of Geometry module

2.1.1 Basic options


On the left-hand side of the main window several options appear. The icons located at
the upper left-hand corner serve to perform common actions, such as creating a new
document, open an existing document or saving the work. Just below, a second bar contains some other icons which display two specific menus, as shown in Fig. 3.
The first one, Grid menu (see Fig. 3 left), has the following options:

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2 Main Modules in Kinematic Analysis

Adjust to grid: selecting this option enables the designer to locate the nodes of the
mechanism adjusting to the grid depicted in the plotting window.
Spherical coordinates: serves to define the design of the mechanism using spherical coordinates.
Axes range: permits defining a specific range for the grid axes.
Axes ticks space: serves to define the number of tickmarks appearing in the grid.

Figure 3: Grid and Options menus of Geometry module


The second menu, Options menu, (see Fig. 3 right), adds the following possibilities:
Error safe mode: it avoids closing the program if some error occurs.
Labels: selecting this option enables displaying the labels of each node, element
and joint of the mechanism.
Frame: it includes four possibilities. The default one, Axes, displays the two
principal axes XY of the grid. The other options are: None, no grid is shown;
Ground, full-grid, and Walls, similar to Ground but depicts the grid of all drawing
planes.
Graphics precision: it permits modifying the precision of the graphics displayed.
Thickness factor: it permits modifying the thickness of the elements.
Element filling: related to the filling mode of the elements.
Colors: it shows the color legend of each elements and joint type.

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2 Main Modules in Kinematic Analysis

2.1.2 Defining the geometry of the mechanism


In this section, it is explained how to define a specific design of a mechanism under
study. To do so, the designer will use the icons included in the vertical bar on the lefthand side of the drawing screen. As shown in Fig. 4, these icons serve for: creating
the nodes of the mechanism, creating the elements, defining the type of joints (revolute
or prismatic joints can be established), establish the fixed joints, modifying or deleting
elements, etc.

Figure 4: Icons included in Geometry module to design a mechanism


The process to depict the mechanism is very simple: select the desired icon and locate
the cursor mouse on the drawing screen. In general, the basic design process consists
in: first, create the nodes of the mechanism; second, define the elements between the
established nodes and finally, define all the joint types.
Nodes: To create the nodes just select the corresponding icon, and then, having
the mouse cursor on the drawing screen, just click on the desired location. Note
that it is also possible to define specific (x,y) coordinates of the node by writing
the numerical values on the boxes that appear at lower left-hand corner once the
nodes icon has been selected.
Elements: Once the nodes have been depicted, the elements can be created. To
do so, select the elements icon, and again move the mouse cursor to the drawing
screen. Click once on the first node forming the element, and click twice on the
last node of the element.

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2 Main Modules in Kinematic Analysis

Kinematic joints: To define the kinematic joints of the mechanism just select the
corresponding icon (revolute or prismatic joint icon) and go to the drawing screen
in order to click on the corresponding node.
In order to illustrate the designing process, several examples are shown in the following videos:
Video of Four-bar mechanism - creating the geometry:
http://www.ehu.es/compmech/software/gim-examples-4-bar-mechanism/
Video of PRRP mechanism - creating the geometry:
http://www.ehu.es/compmech/software/gim-examples-prrp-mechanism/

2.2 Motion module


Motion module is the module in charge of carrying out the motion simulation and kinematic analysis of the planar mechanism under study. The user can access this module
only once the geometry of the mechanism has been completely defined in Geometry
module. To get into Motion module, just select the option Motion from the display
menu on the upper bar of the main window.
In Fig. 5, the starting main window associated with Motion module is shown, using
the four-bar mechanism as an illustrative example.

Figure 5: Main window of Motion module


This screen contains three main parts:

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2 Main Modules in Kinematic Analysis

1. The vertical bar close to the drawing screen in which several icons appear so as
to define the inputs motion. The first five icons serve to define the inputs of the
mechanism. The two last icons permit selecting specific elements or nodes, and
showing graphs respectively (see Fig. 6).
The way the input conditions has to be established is detailed in Section 2.2.1.
2. The top horizontal bar containing, on the one hand, the icon that serves to compute
the motion (the calculator icon) and, on the other hand, the controls of the motion
simulation (play/pause, next step, previous step). Besides, just below the motion
controls, it is displayed the number of degrees of freedom, and the number of
redundant constraints (see Fig. 7).
3. Two boxes named Point display and Element display, in which the kinematic
properties related to points or elements of the mechanism are shown. This is
the main part of the Motion module, as it contains all the options that can be
visualized in relation to important kinematic features of the mechanism, as for
example, velocities and accelerations, points trajectory, Instantaneous Center of
Rotation (ICR), fixed and moving polodes, main circles, and so on (see Fig. 8).
Detailed explanation of the operation of this part is given in Section 2.2.2.

Figure 6: Vertical bar of Motion module

Figure 7: Motion controls of Motion module

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Figure 8: Kinematic properties included in Motion module


2.2.1 Defining the input conditions
The first step to proceed with the kinematic analysis of a mechanism under study is to
define the input(s) of the mechanism. For a n-DOF mechanism, n number of inputs
must be established. As highlighted in Fig. 6, the icons in the vertical bar serve to
define the following type of inputs: fixed revolute actuator, floating revolute actuator,
slider revolute actuator, piston actuator and slider actuator.
Following with the four-bar example, let us chose one of the fixed revolute joints as
the actuated one, as shown in Fig. 9a. The process is very simple, first select any of the
icons of the vertical bar associated with the input you want to specify, and then click
on the corresponding input joint of the mechanism. Next, define the characteristics of
the input (position, velocity, acceleration) by establishing the desired parameters on the
right-hand side box menu, as shown in Fig. 9b.
The default input option consists in a linear increment of position, that is, constant
velocity. However, the characteristics of the input actuation can be varied by the user, by
modifying the parameters of position, velocity and acceleration displayed in the menu of
Fig. 9b. A polynomial up to the quintic can be specified. The graphs on the right-hand
side are displayed according to the established input conditions.
2.2.2 Getting into the kinematics
Once the input (or inputs in the case of more than one DoF) of the mechanism has been
defined and the motion has been computed, the user is ready to analyze several kinematic properties of the mechanism.
As stated in Section 2.2, in particular focusing on the options of Fig. 8, there exist
two menus regarding the kinematic properties that can be obtained. On the one hand,
in relation to points of interest of the mechanism (Point display menu), the following
data can be displayed:

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2 Main Modules in Kinematic Analysis

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(a)

(b)

Figure 9: Defining the input actuation: (a) selecting the input; (b) Establishing the input
conditions

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2 Main Modules in Kinematic Analysis

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Trajectory
Velocity
Frame velocity
Absolute velocity
Acceleration
Tangent acceleration
Normal acceleration
Frame acceleration
Absolute acceleration
Coriolis acceleration
Curvature center
Curvature locus
On the other hand, regarding the elements of the mechanism (Element display
menu), the user can obtain the nest features:
Swept
Angular velocity
Angular acceleration
ICR (Instantaneous Center of Rotation)
Pole velocity
Fixed centrode
Moving centrode
Centrode tangent
ICA (Instantaneous Center of Acceleration)
Components
Inflection circle
Inversion circle
Line envelope
Return circle
In order to visualize any of the aforementioned options (or various options simultaneously) it is just needed to click the box (or boxes) associated with the desired option
included in Point or Element menu, and then select the point or element of interest.

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2 Main Modules in Kinematic Analysis

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An illustrative example is shown in Figs. 10 and 11. In Fig. 10, some properties
of a point of interest, in this case the coupler point P, are displayed: the velocity and
acceleration, its trajectory and the curvature center of the trajectory. Figure 11 displays
significant kinematic features associated with a specific element, in this case the moving
platform: the ICR, and the fixed and moving centrodes.

Figure 10: Showing kinematic properties of the coupler point


It is essential to remark that all of the kinematic features can be visualized not only
for a certain position but all along the motion of the mechanism. In order to get this,
just press the play button included in the motion controls.
Again, following with the four-bar example, the visualization of several features
along the motion is shown in the following video:
Video of Four-bar mechanism - properties related to points of interest and elements:
http://www.ehu.es/compmech/software/gim-examples-4-bar-mechanism/
2.2.3 Graphical plots
Motion module allows to represent the graphs of features associated with points or elements. These graphics are obtained by selecting the icon indicated in Fig. 12, which
displays the menu also shown in the figure. This menu is divided into the characteristics
of points and the ones associated with elements.
With respect to points, the following graphs can be obtained:

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Figure 11: Showing kinematic properties of the moving platform


Coordinates
Velocity
Acceleration
Tangential acceleration
Normal acceleration
Curvature Center
Curvature radius
And regarding the elements:
Angular velocity
Angular acceleration
ICR
Pole velocity
IC of acceleration

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3 Examples of Planar Mechanisms

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Figure 12: Obtaining graphs of features associated with points or elements

3 Examples of Planar Mechanisms


The analysis of different planar mechanisms (four-bar mechanism, 5R mechanism, Scotch
Yoke mechanism, 3-RPR mechanism, etc) making use of GIM software is reported in
the videos available in the subsequent link:
http://www.ehu.es/compmech/software/
Besides, several interactive video tutorials can be shown in:
http://www.ehu.es/compmech/gim-software-tutorial/
The video tutorials explain step-by-step how to create the geometry, carry out the
motion simulation and perform the kinematic analysis of various planar mechanisms:
four-bar mechanism, PRRP mechanism, Scotch Yoke mechanism and Peaucellier mechanism.

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